Cleveland Protests Not Guilty Verdict Of A Police Officer Who Shot An Unarmed Couple In 2012

Trending News: Why Protests Have Erupted In Cleveland

Why Is This Important?

Because an unarmed couple was shot 137 times and no one is being charged.

Long Story Short

Protests erupted in Cleveland after a court decided to acquit police officer Michael Brelo in the 2012 killings of an unarmed black couple despite the fact that he pummelled the couple with 49 shots including 15 from atop the hood of their stopped Malibu.

Long Story

On Nov. 29, 2012, Timothy Russell and his partner Malissa Williams were driving in their 1979 Chevrolet Malibu when police began to chase them, , reports Cleveland.com. It's not known why Russell began to speed away from police, but the officers on the scene say they thought they heard gunshots coming from the car, so they began the chase that went 22 miles at speeds that reached 100 miles an hour.

Police proceeded to box in the car and pummel the defenceless couple with 137 rounds of gunfire.

A group of protesters also briefly blocked a freeway through town, the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, and overall three people were arrested for aggravated assault and obstructing justice when an object was thrown through a restaurant window.

The King of Cleveland himself, Lebron James, called for calm. “Violence is not the answer and it’s all about trying to find a solution,” he said to reporters in Cleveland, adding that he hopes Sunday’s home game against the Atlanta Hawks will calm people down. “I think sports is one of the biggest healers in helping a city out.”

So, how is it possible that a couple can be shot 137 times by several officers and no one is charged? The devil is in the details and the decision to prosecute a single officer. Judge John P. O’Donnell explained for nearly an hour that Brelo can’t be charged with manslaughter because there’s no way to prove that he fired the shot that killed either one of them.

"I have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Brelo fired a shot that by itself would have caused Russell's death. But proof of voluntary manslaughter requires a finding, beyond a reasonable doubt, either that his shot alone actually caused the death or it was the 'straw that broke the camel's back,'" O'Donnell said, as quoted by Cleveland.com.

Brelo wasn’t charged with felonious assault either because he and the officers had reason to believe the couple were armed, despite it turning out to be the contrary.

Berlo’s lawyer said his client should never have been charged and their case “was classically a case of David vs. Goliath.”

Considering what we’ve seen with the deaths of other unarmed black individuals lately, it’s not only about the police using unnecessary force, it’s the justice system allowing the officers to be acquitted for one reason or another. But hey, nobody said solving the country’s deeply ingrained social and judicial ills would be easy.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: How could the law be changed to bring justice in a police shooting case such as this?

Disrupt Your Feed: If you can't charge just Brelo then charge every officer involved. There needs to be some accountability for unnecessary use of force.

Drop This Fact: The December 2014 report into Cleveland police conduct revealed the 1,551-person police department is 25 percent black and 65 percent white, while the city is 53 percent black and 37 percent white.